The Triad
by Crawler
Summary: Finn has the perfect life, except for a little problem with dreams... AU, featuring Kurt, Burt, Mama Hummel, Carole, and Finn. Character death. Character not-death?
1. Prologue

**Title:** The Triad

**Author:** Spider

**Pairing, Character(s):** The Hudmels. All _five_ of them.

**Rating: **Er... PG-13 for death and blood and a mention of naked boobies?

**Warnings:** Character death? Character not-death? Severe AU?

**Spoilers:** Burt's storyline from the back 9

**Disclaimer:** DEFINITELY not mine.

**Summary:** Finn has the perfect life, except for a little problem with dreams...

**Notes:** Um... don't ask where this came from? My beta described it as a mindfuck, but in a good way. Warning: the ending of this fic will not be a satisfactory resolution. I can promise you that now.

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**THE TRIAD**

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"Don't stop!"

The audience burst into wild applause as the Triad nailed the last notes of their song, an original hit called _Don't Stop Believing_. Finn Hudson raised his drumsticks high, grinning madly at the cheers. Oh yeah. This was the stuff he had dreamed of as a kid. Noah "Puck" Puckerman and William "Mr. Schu" Schuester grinned back at him. They were the Triad, the hottest young band this side of the world, and they were being interviewed by one _gorgeous _supermodel, Iris, on _The Iris Show_.

Iris was clapping and smiling along with the audience as she invited the three to take their seats on her couch, welcoming them to her show and launching into the interview proper. The Triad were excited about their upcoming album release, _Third Time's the Charm _and their upcoming international tour. Puck flirted outrageously with Iris while Mr. Schu recounted how they had joined up when Puck and Finn were in high school, and Mr. Schu was their Spanish teacher, barely five years older than they were. Band success was much better than teacher success, though, and Mr. Schu had left his educatory roots behind for a life of fame and fortune.

"And, Finn, we hear that you've got an exciting party planned!" Iris clasped her hands together, leaning toward him. "Can you give us any details? What's the big surprise?"

"Well," Finn said, his eyes sparkling, "a couple months back, I asked my girlfriend to marry me."

"This would be Rinn Faberry, America's favorite Broadway starlet?" Iris clarified.

Finn nodded. "Yep. Rinn Faberry, the _hottest _girl in the world." The audience gave a hearty laugh at that. They were just eating up everything Finn had to say. "She did say yes-"

"Because we were all so worried she wouldn't," Puck interrupted with a roll of his eyes. The audience tittered again, and Finn jostled him good-naturedly.

"And the wedding is in just a few more days! We're both really excited; can't wait to start a family."

Rinn Faberry. She had ruled the halls of McKinley High when they attended together, one flash of her dark brown eyes capable of stunning a guy at fifty paces. Half the school had followed drooling after her blonde Cheerios ponytail, but only Finn Hudson had found his place in her heart. After a year of being good friends (he was the QB on the best team in the country, she was head cheerleader on the best squad in the country), they had started dating. Their combination of voices and dance moves had won their Glee Club National championships three years in a row, and Rinn had quickly become a rising star in New York City after graduation. Finn, Puck, and Mr. Schu could only follow her light, forming a rock band and finding their own fame.

And now she was going to _marry _him. Finn could hardly believe his luck as he came home that evening, letting himself into his massive apartment only to find that Rinn had made a five-course meal for their dinner—and he could _smell _the fresh cookies in the oven. "Welcome home, baby," Rinn said, greeting Finn with a deep kiss. "I thought we could have a light meal tonight, and then some time to reconnect after dinner..." She was looking especially gorgeous in that figure-flattering black dress, the candlelight setting her blonde hair aglow. When she looked like this, he could hardly even tell that she was only an A-cup, her small boobs the constant bane of her existence.

"Sounds great," Finn said, sliding his arms around Rinn's waist. "Delicious. I can't wait..."


	2. Chapter 1

I'll probably have this whole story up by Thursday.

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**THE TRIAD**

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Finn triple-checked the doughnuts in the box as he climbed out of his truck at Hummel Tires & Lube. Burt's favorite jelly-cream-filled hadn't vanished in the drive from Dunkin' Donuts, but Finn didn't want to risk anything. This was the first time he was picking up the doughnut order on his own, after all, and he wanted things to be perfect. Usually Kurt placed the order, and Kurt had everyone's favorites memorized, but Kurt had stayed home from school today, sick with a massive pounding migraine. Finn had thought a headache was a wussy excuse to be allowed to stay home, until he saw that Kurt genuinely wasn't faking his inability to stay upright for more than five minutes at a time. In exchange for the strongest migraine relief pills in the house, Kurt had written Finn a list of doughnut varieties and collapsed into bed with a groan.

Finn had sent Kurt a text around lunch and got a reply that he was doing much better—his head still ached, but he had managed to take a shower and get dressed, and he had included a bunch of words that Finn could only assume were describing his outfit for the day. Black and blue were the only words Finn had recognized. He had replied with a _sonds g8 cu aftr wrk_ and hoped Kurt wasn't going to quiz him on designers that evening.

Right now, though, Finn was going to help out at the garage. He rather liked working with his hands, and ever since Kurt had started teaching him auto mechanics, Finn had been trying to make himself useful. As he headed toward the door, though, a sharply-dressed woman, one hand lightly touching one of those bluetooth earpiece things, turned to stare at him through mirrored sunglasses. _Freaky_, he thought to himself. She looked like a secret agent or something. Like Angelina Jolie. Only not. Like Lara Croft. Yeah. Tomb Raider. Hot chick with a gun.

"Excuse me." The woman had stalked toward him, and her voice had a weird accent to it. Kinda computery, like she had learned English from having the computer read words to her. "Do you work here?"

"Uh... yeah? Sorta." Finn shifted the box of doughnuts to one hand. "Didja need something?"

"Please present this to..." The woman reached up, touching her earpiece again. "Burt Hummel." She held out a folded piece of paper.

"Er... sure thing," Finn said, glancing down at the paper. When he looked up again, the woman was stalking off. She turned around a van, and when Finn took a few steps to look around it, she was gone.

"Freaky," he said, this time aloud, before heading inside.

Burt nodded his approval at the doughnut selections, pulling out his jelly-cream-filled one and nodding toward the paper in Finn's hand. "Whatcha got there?"

"Some secret-agent lady asked me to give this to you," Finn said, holding it out. "It was weird. Like she just disappeared or something."

Burt frowned, reaching out to take the note from Finn, holding his doughnut in one hand. He unfolded the paper... and then went completely white, the doughnut dropping from suddenly nerveless fingers. Finn frowned, craning his neck to read what was written.

**THE TRIAD CLAIMS ITS OWN**

"Call your mom!" Burt suddenly snapped, yanking his phone out and punching in Kurt's number. "Tell her to barricade herself in a bathroom or something! Tell her not to go anywhere near people she doesn't know. Tell her not to go _with _people she doesn't know!" He had his phone to his ear, and Finn could hear it ringing on the other end. "Fuck, Kurt, answer your phone! Answer the damn phone!" He yanked his phone away, pressing the red button to cancel the call, and immediately began dialing the home number. "FINN! Call your mom!"

Finn fumbled for his own phone, hastily pulling it out of his pocket and calling his mother. She was at work now, and Finn didn't understand the urgency, but he could see Burt was panicking.

_Finn?_

"Mom?" Finn watched as Burt swore at his phone, at Kurt, not at Kurt, and at the Triad, whatever it was. "Mom, Burt's freaking out."

_What's going on?_

Finn could hear his mother's concern echoing his own worry. "I don't know. He got a note, and now he wants me to tell you to barricade yourself in the bathroom, and he keeps trying to call Kurt."

Burt jammed his finger into the end-call button again and redialed Kurt's cell, running to his office, actually _running_. He came out a moment later with his keys, and Finn quickly followed him out, climbing into Burt's truck before his sorta-stepfather could leave without him. "Don't trust any strangers, Mom, or go with any strangers, or anyone you don't recognize... Burt, what's going on?"

"DAMMIT, KURT, ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE!" Burt's voice was shaking even as he yelled helplessly at the cellphone. Finn gripped his own phone tighter.

"Mom..."

_I'm coming home, sweetie. You stay with Burt. I'll be home soon. Keep him at the house, if that's where you're going, okay? I'll be right there._

"Okay, Mom. I love you."

_I love you too. I'll see you soon._

Finn hung up after his mom did, turning to look at Burt beside him. The older man was still absolutely ashen, and he was pressing the accelerator to the floor. Finn was sure they'd be stopped by the cops, but even when they blew through that red light, nobody seemed to even bat an eye. Finn gulped, shifting his grip to his seatbelt, and tried not to throw up from the ride.

Burt pulled into the driveway with a twist of the wheel and a screech of tires that would have had Finn going _Cool!_ if he weren't so utterly terrified. Burt didn't even bother turning off the car, just grabbed a crowbar from behind the seat and sprang from the truck (he hadn't even buckled up, Finn realized with growing horror. Something had to be _seriously _wrong for Burt to ignore auto safety to this extent!) and ran toward the house. Finn struggled with his belt before following him. Suddenly, right behind Burt seemed to be the safest place to be.

At first glance, everything seemed to be fine, but then Burt gave the door a push and it swung open easily, the latch completely busted. He entered the house a little more slowly, raising the crowbar like a bat. "Kurt?"

The house was dark and quiet. Finn gulped and crept behind Burt toward the basement door. It was swinging open, a dark trail of something spattered on the stairs.

Oh god.

Something red.

_Blood._

"Kurt!" Burt took the steps three at a time. Finn went a little more slowly and a lot less gracefully, nearly tripping over his feet and nose-diving into the wall.

Kurt's room was a mess. There was blood spattered everywhere, and the sheets of his bed were all messed up. The mirror of his vanity was cracked, and one closet door was hanging from only one hinge. There was a bloody handprint on one wall, but other than that, no sign of either Kurt or his attacker.

Burt looked around the room briefly before turning and racing back up the stairs. Finn followed, clutching his cell phone and wondering if a crowbar would be any good as a weapon against whatever had put that much blood on walls.

The bloody trail led in and out of Finn's bedroom. Burt stepped inside and made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. Finn stepped inside and looked down. Half lying against his bed was the body of a man (not Kurt, Kurt didn't have arms that size), most of his blood soaked into the blankets or dripping onto the floor. He was a dead man. Finn knew he was dead, because it looked like someone had grabbed his shoulders and ripped him in two, only the rip stopped somewhere around his stomach. Finn could see the broken edges of ribs and squishy-looking things that glistened wetly inside the man's body, and his own stomach rebelled. As Burt backed out of the room, following the blood, Finn bent over and threw up, right there on the floor with all the dead guy's blood.

Somehow, Finn managed to stumble out of his room, sagging against the far wall of the hall, wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve. Oh god. There was a dead guy in his room. A dead guy ripped in half. And Kurt was missing. And there was a lot of blood. Oh god. Oh god.

When Burt screamed out from upstairs, Finn's first thought was _He's been ripped in half_. But that hadn't sounded like a dying scream (or what Finn imagined a dying scream sounded like). It sounded like a broken scream, kinda like how his mom had screamed when Darren went off with that other girl, only deeper. _More_.

And that's when Finn realized that Burt must have found Kurt.

He took the stairs up to the second floor, where the master bedroom was, skidding to a stop in front of the door. Burt was on the bed, hugging Kurt against his chest and rocking back and forth. Kurt wasn't moving. His head lolled back, eyes staring sightlessly ahead, one arm limp against the bed. He was dead. Finn knew it immediately.

The friggin' _sword _sticking out of his back kinda gave it away.


	3. Chapter 2

**THE TRIAD**

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"Finn!"

"Mom!" Finn couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene. Maybe, if he blinked enough times, it would go away. Kurt Hummel could not possibly be dead with a sword sticking through him in his own house. That wasn't how things worked. Kurt had just texted him a few hours ago, at lunch. Kurt _could not be dead. _"Mom, we're upstairs... god... Mom..."

Carole came running up the stairs, grabbing Finn by the arm and spinning him to face her, running expert mom hands over his chest and arms. "Finn, baby, are you hurt?"

"No..." Finn was shaking his head. "No, no, it's Kurt, it's Kurt's blood... god... Mom... it can't be..."

Carole turned slowly to look in the bedroom, gasping and pressing a hand to her mouth at the sight. "Oh sweet baby Jesus..."

Burt's rocking had slowed now, and he was just looking down at the body in his arms. Carefully, he laid Kurt down on the bed, curling his fingers around the hilt of the sword and pulling it out of Kurt's body with a wet _shick_. Finn gulped, his stomach rebelling again, but thankfully, all of its contents had been left downstairs in his own room. Burt tossed the sword aside and slid his arms under Kurt, adjusting him until his head was on the pillow, arms at his sides and legs relatively straight. Burt then took the blanket from the foot of the bed and drew it up over his boy's body, tucking him in like a child, before reaching up to close his cloudy eyes. His hand lingered on Kurt's cheek for a while before he leaned forward and kissed Kurt's forehead, then drew out his phone. With blood-stained fingers, he dialed a number and lifted the cell to his ear.

"You promised," was all Burt said. "Now you get your ass over here and _fix this_. You bring him back."

Burt didn't wait for whomever he had called to answer, hanging up immediately. He pushed himself to his feet, and with one last look at Kurt, ushered Finn and Carole out of the room, closing the door behind them.

"What happened?" Carole whispered, reaching out a hand to touch Burt's arm but hesitating at the last moment, her eyes caught by the excessive amount of blood on his clothing.

"Who did you call?" Finn asked, his eyes wide. "_Can _this be fixed?"

"His mother is coming over," Burt said. "She'll be here soon. We should try to clean up a bit."

"His mother's dead..." Like Kurt was dead. Oh god. Kurt was dead. Like that man in his room. "We need to call the police..."

"No," Burt said. "They won't understand. Not this. We need to clean up. Finn, you're not going to school tomorrow. Carole, take the day off work. We need to stay here until she comes."

Finn couldn't find it in himself to protest. His mind kept drifting back to Kurt's body in that bed, even as Burt put him to work scrubbing the blood out of the carpet. Nothing was making any sense. Nothing at all.

The doorbell rang almost exactly two hours later. Burt went to answer it, while Carole and Finn moved together to watch. The woman Burt ushered in was one they had both seen before, in one of the rare pictures the Hummels displayed of Julie, Kurt's mother. Unlike the pictures Kurt had (Burt did not keep any pictures of Julie that Finn knew of), Julie was now wearing mirrored sunglasses and an earpiece just like that lady outside the garage earlier. Her hair wasn't loose, but was pulled up in a tight bun, a pair of chopsticks thrust through it, and she was dressed in a rather austere suit. Kurt's pictures had been of a smiling, happy housewife in an apron, one who couldn't seem to get enough of hugging her son. Finn felt like snapping to attention in front of this woman.

"Julie, meet Carole Hudson and her son, Finn," Burt said, introducing the pair. "Carole, Finn, this is Julie Alberta, Kurt's mother."

"Dr. Julie Hummel," Julie corrected. Her voice was high and sweet like Kurt's, but again with the strictness that her appearance showed. "We were never divorced."

"We were never married," Burt retorted sharply. Finn quailed from the dark look Burt was giving his... wife? Ex-wife? Clearly, there was more to this story than he had ever guessed.

Julie met Burt's eyes through her mirrored sunglasses for a moment before dropping her head and giving a small nod. "Fair enough. Now. What happened here?"

"There's a dead man in Finn's room," Burt said, "and my son has been impaled on a sword."

"Oh dear," Julie murmured. "Sounds like an assassination. Show me the man?"

Finn looked helplessly at his mom as Burt led Julie into the house. He reached out, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. "We've now entered the Twilight Zone..."

Carole gave him a little smile, squeezing his hand back. "At least I don't have to worry about Burt going back to her. He doesn't seem to like her much..."

Finn shook his head in agreement, and Carole tugged on his hand, leading him after Burt and Julie.

"Definitely a bot," Julie was saying when they found her crouched beside the body of the dead man and inspecting it. "A SAD from the looks of it." She reached up, tapping a finger against her earpiece and holding her other hand over his head. "Yes. SAD-42. I'll have to report his loss." She glanced up at Burt's scowling countenance and added, "when I return."

"Do... do bots just... fall apart like that?" Finn asked, flapping his hand uselessly at the dead man.

"No," Julie answered, rising to her feet. "This is a K-U-R style of death. Kurt did this. He's the only one officially unaccounted for."

Finn shook his head a little. "No way. Kurt couldn't have done this. He's just a little dude..."

Julie's mouth could go thin and flat just like an upset Kurt's could, Finn realized. "He is my son. I thank you to trust I know what he is capable of. And speaking of Kurt, where is he?"

Burt led Julie and the Hudsons to the master bedroom. He was so careful opening the door that Finn half-expected Kurt to move, waking up with his slow, sleepy blinks.

Kurt didn't stir, though. He just laid there. He looked more asleep than dead, with his eyes closed and a heavy blanket covering his blood-soaked clothes, but his face was all wrong, far too white, even for Kurt's pale skin.

Julie swallowed thickly and went to his side, smoothing his hair out of his face. "He's beautiful," she murmured. "All the others... they're just copies. Inferior clones. It's so obvious he's the original..."

"And he's _mine_," Burt said, bristling from the other side of the bed. "You bring him back."

"If he's dead, there's nothing I can do," Julie whispered, stroking her fingers over Kurt's cheek.

"He's seventeen, dammit!" Burt shouted, slamming his fist into the mattress. "He still has another year! You bring him back!"

Julie gave a little shake of her head, but she reached up, touching her earpiece with one finger and holding her other hand over Kurt's head, just like she had done with the man... bot... thing downstairs. After what felt like an eternity, Burt asked, quietly, "_Is _he dead?"

_Yes, _Finn thought to himself, though he was much less sure of this fact than he had been several hours ago. He had thought Julie was dead, after all, and Burt was certainly acting like there was something else... Burt and Julie both. The way they were talking. Finn was definitely missing part of the story.

"He made it," Julie breathed, her tense posture relaxing just a little. "He's in. But he's lost. I can't... I can't bring him back."

Finn watched as Burt grabbed on to the headboard of his bed, slumping against it, a little sound a bit like a dying cat escaping his throat. So... that meant Kurt really _was_ dead, and all this Twilight Zone stuff was just a bunch of crazy?

Julie shook her head a little, still talking. "_I _can't, Burt. But..."

Finn looked up to see Julie looking right at him, and even though her eyes were hidden behind mirrored lenses, Finn _knew _she was staring at him. He could _feel _her eyes roving over him, and he shivered, suddenly feeling very, very afraid. Quickly, he reached over and took his mom's hand again.

"How old are you?" Julie asked, cocking her head to the side just like Kurt did every time he kicked a perfect field goal.

"S-s-seventeen," Finn stuttered, before wondering if stuttering was contagious and he had caught something from Tina.

"I _can _send another..."

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Finn woke up with a gasp, sitting upright in his bed. Beside him, Rinn stirred a little, snuggling closer, her chocolate brown hair spread out on the pillow. _Rachel?_ he thought for a moment before shaking his head. _No, Rinn._ He didn't even know any Rachels. He didn't know any Burts either, for that matter. He _vaguely _remembered a Kurt Hummel from high school, a soprano in the Glee Club. Fancy, expensive clothes. Yeah. Looked like the Kurt Hummel from his dream. But other than that... he had no idea who Burt Hummel was, or Julie, or the dead guy. He had recognized his mother, but everything else made no sense.

It was just a dream. Finn laid back down again, reaching over to stroke Rinn's cheek. She stirred, cracking her soft hazel eyes open and giving him a little smile. "You okay, baby?" she whispered.

"Yeah," Finn replied. "Just a bad dream. I love you."

"Love you too..." Rinn tucked herself against Finn, her large breasts pressing against his bare chest. She was soon asleep again. Finn just watched her sleep for nearly an hour before succumbing to the pull of dreams again.


	4. Chapter 3

This IS the last part. I may write a follow-up later, but not at the moment. Special thanks to Harry Fado, for your review, and Fox, for telling me that it's okay to end it like this.

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**THE TRIAD**

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"Oh hell no." It was Carole speaking now, shaking her head and waving her hands, physically putting her body between Finn and Julie. "Whatever you're planning, no. No way. Not without an explanation. Burt, what is going on here! Why is there a dead man in our home? Why is _Kurt_ dead? Why is your dead wife _not _dead!"

Burt looked over at Julie, and she gave a shake of her head. Burt shook his head back. "No. I won't let Finn go anywhere near that Triad shit without knowing what's going on. And Carole deserves to know too."

"It is _classified information_," Julie hissed back. "We can't just go divulging it to civilians!"

"They're not _just _civilians," Burt said. "They're my family. They're _Kurt's _family. They mean more to him than you do."

"I'm his mother!"

"You haven't even seen him in ten years." Burt drew himself up to his full height, his hands clenched into fists. "We're going to tell them. Tell them everything. And then Finn and Carole can decide if they will help us."

Julie looked down at Kurt again, reaching out to touch his face. She sagged a little and nodded. "I suppose... I suppose we don't have any choice."

Somehow, the four of them ended up sitting in the living room together. Julie sat apart in a rocking chair, while Burt sat on one end of the couch and Finn and Carole sat together on the other, their hands still linked. Julie folded her hands in her lap, her lips pursed thoughtfully. "I suppose," she said, "it begins with the Triad." She paused, taking a deep breath, and ducked her head. "You cannot breathe a word of this to anyone. What I am about to tell you is top-secret information. You need the highest levels of security clearance to have access to any of this... something which none of you do. But I've already leaked this information once..." she glanced over at Burt, "so I suppose it is only fair that I be the one to do it again.

"The Triad is... it is a system. A virtual reality... program. A second life, all in your head. You can be hooked up to the Triad and instantly be anyone, do anything... it is a way to live life without ever leaving your bed."

"Why?" Finn asked, frowning over at his mom. "I mean... why would you want to do that? It'd all be fake, right? Like the Matrix?"

"If you were, for example, paralyzed," Julie explained, "you could use the Triad to walk again, to climb Mount Everest or do anything else your body could not do. You could have your dream life, even though your body could not support it. That is but one of the many applications for the Triad we are researching."

"Who's 'we?'"

"The IAIL," Julie answered, waving her hand. "Don't bother looking it up. We don't exist. We make sure we don't exist."

"How do the Hummels fit into this non-existent research?" Carole asked, looking nervously toward Burt.

"Burt was a volunteer for our early experiments with the Triad," Julie answered, offering Burt a smile.

Burt didn't return the fond expression, instead glaring darkly at her. "By 'volunteer,' she means I was abducted off the street and imprisoned in their test facilities for ten years while my entire family thought I was dead."

"Your life was perfect for ten years," Julie sniffed. "You _could _be a little more grateful."

"I _thought _my life was perfect," Burt replied. "I was blind to the reality of the situation." He turned to Carole and Finn. "When you're hooked up to the Triad, you don't realize it. It gets into your head, finds all your dreams, makes them a reality. But _in _reality, you're just lying on a steel table, hooked up to a bunch of tubes. Comatose. I lost ten years of my life to that machine."

"We met in the Triad," Julie said quietly. She lifted her hand and touched her earpiece. "All of the researchers are connected to the Triad via a low-level frequency. We are able to shift in and out, but we cannot manipulate the Triad with our own minds. We can only... piggy-back off the perfect world of another. I was observing Burt's experiences... and I... fell in love. His world... it changed to incorporate me. We were married, started a family..."

"In the Triad," Burt snorted. "Not in reality. Except, _somehow_, she did get pregnant."

The fair skin of Julie's face went just a little pink, but she kept her chin held high. "We are not at liberty to discuss the details of the experiments conducted while the subjects were under the influence of the Triad."

Finn and Carole exchanged wary glances.

"Kurt died during the birth," Burt said. "In reality. In the Triad, he was premature. She... did something to bring him back. But Kurt isn't human."

"Kurt," Julie said, "or KUR-1, is the most advanced artificial intelligence man has _ever _created. He was one of the first bots released into the Triad, designed to eliminate programming errors... and to offer assistance to Triad users as necessary. Any user could access his services by approaching him and asking him to state his designation. Until activated, though, KUR-1 was designed to act as any other non-human character in the user's experiences. His appearance was varied at first, but we never could get him to look fully human. But then, with my baby..." Julie took a deep breath and sighed. "If you die in the Triad, your mind dies, but your body continues on. What we had with KUR-1 was a mind with no body. And with my baby... we had a freshly-dead body with no mind. We combined them. Downloaded the KUR-1 AI into my son's brain. And, as we had hoped..." Julie took another deep breath, clenching her fingers on her knees. "KUR-1 took over the functions of the baby's brain. It... adapted. KUR-1 brought my baby back from the grave. But now that he was implanted in a body, he could not assume the images of other humans. He looked like his human host did. And as my baby Kurt grew, so too did KUR-1."

"I didn't know," Burt said gruffly. "I thought that damn dream world was the real world. I had no idea my son was a _robot_."

"Cyborg, technically," Julie murmured. "Mostly organic. In fact, entirely organic. It is only his mind that is manufactured."

"Wait... you mean Kurt, his personality and his... all his... quirks, someone _designed _him like that?" Finn asked, looking baffled. "Who would want to _make _a person that weird! No offense," he said quickly, as Burt turned his glare on him. "I mean, I like Kurt and all. But... you know... someone who fit in better would have an easier life..."

"No," Julie said, shaking her head. "Kurt's personality was developed by KUR-1 himself. Once in the body of a baby, he adapted himself fully _into _that baby. It was... unusual. Bizarre. His personality shifted completely, and... and we believe it actually is an accurate representation of what my child would have been, had he survived. His personality was still imprinted in his brain, and KUR-1 was able to access and interpret that information." She gave a little smile. "His actions were entirely unique and entirely useless for his purpose in the Triad. We copied his programming and tweaked it, effectively dumbing down his intelligence, and manufactured KUR-2 through KUR-12. For simplicity's sake, we copied his appearance as well." She closed her eyes. "The first years were incredibly odd, as KUR-2 through 12 were as articulate and intelligent as any fully-functioning member of human society, but they all had the appearance of infants. Only just recently, as they reach their eighteenth year of operation, have they started looking closer to the age they act."

"So... Kurt has robot clones?" Finn asked, scratching his head.

"They are all inferior," Julie said. "As the original, KUR-1 is perfection."

"How..." Carole looked over at Burt, silently talking to him with just her eyes. Finn didn't understand what she was saying, but he could tell that there was _some _sort of communication going on. "If this is all true... how did Kurt end up here? And you, Burt... how did you... get out?"

"Ask her," Burt said, gesturing to Julie. "She understands the science better."

Julie was looking somewhat twitchy, Finn realized, a bit like an uncomfortable Kurt. It was so _weird_, seeing this woman with a similar face and similar attitude to his sorta-step-brother-who-really-was-a-cyborg. "I... ah... There was—_is—_a glitch in the Triad. It... kills. Extensive testing has shown that anyone over the age of eighteen when they are 'plugged in...' well... they don't last. Their bodies in reality start going haywire. Some systems shut down; others overcompensate. They destroy themselves, in rather horrible, usually messy deaths. We... still haven't found the source. It is our greatest failure with the Triad—rather than saving lives, we have only made things worse. Now, anyone over the age of eighteen who enters the Triad dies within a week."

"Burt...!" Carole looked over at the oldest Hummel in shock, and Finn voiced what he was pretty sure his mom was thinking.

"Are _you _a cyborg too?"

"No," Burt said. "I got out."

"Burt was one of the first volunteers," Julie said, ignoring Burt's huff at that word. "Before the glitch was exacerbated. When I learned of the issues... I removed him from the Triad myself."

"It wasn't fun," Burt said. "That's when I learned I'd been living a lie. My 'wife' was a scientist experimenting on me. My 'home' was a slab in a lab. My _son _had never once seen the real sky, felt the warmth of the sun, or stood on his own two feet."

Julie ducked her head. "We were withdrawing all the older volunteers from the Triad. They were debriefed and then... then they were destroyed. I couldn't let that happen to Burt... I _did _love you." She looked earnestly toward Burt, but Burt met her gaze flatly. "And I loved my baby. I couldn't... I couldn't always be in the Triad, and without Burt, he'd have no parents. So I... I removed him, too. I gave him to Burt and smuggled them away, gave them enough funds to set up a life here..."

"And she swore that all that Triad crap would never disturb us again. We could have normal lives. Kurt could have a _human _life."

"Does Kurt... does he know he isn't...?" Carole looked like she could hardly believe what she was asking. Finn squeezed her hand.

"Yes," Burt said. "You want him to freak you out, ask him to state his designation. He knows all about the Triad. He's got... kinda like two minds. Most of the time, he's able to block it out and weld the life he lived there to the life he lives here and makes it all make sense, but sometimes, you know he's aware that it was fake. Like when he cooks." Burt closed his eyes. "Kurt makes us all stick to that ridiculous diet... because it's all I can eat. The Triad fucked up my stomach. Too much cholesterol won't give me a heart attack: it'll flat-out kill me."

"So... what happened here?" Finn asked quietly.

Julie twisted her hands in her skirt. "KUR-1's removal from the Triad was unauthorized. The prevailing belief was that he had escaped a program and was lurking in the mainframe somewhere. His classification was changed to 'rogue,' and the legions of SADs—that's Search And Destroy—have orders to kill him on sight. As long as they were looking for him in the Triad, though, everything would be all right. They would never find him."

"You said that guy in my room was a SAD," Finn said. "Are we in the Triad _right now_?"

"No," Julie answered with a shake of her head. "The occasional SAD is downloaded into a human host—someone who died while plugged into the Triad, usually—for additional research and assistance around the labs. The one in your room was one such bot—the human had died long ago, and the program was keeping him running. I suspect there was a second one involved as well. KUR-1 should have been able to overpower a solitary SAD, but the more SADs there are, the more difficulty KUR-1 would have had."

"You said Kurt killed him..."

Julie nodded. "KUR-bots are the elitest of our destructive bots. That is why we only have twelve of them—any more could be dangerous and would be utterly unnecessary." She looked at Finn and sighed. "A KUR is like a movie ninja, alone, he is nearly unstoppable. A SAD is like a movie minion. Alone, he is laughable."

"Kurt was alone," Finn pointed out.

"But sick," Burt said slowly. "He had a headache."

Julie nodded slowly. "Perhaps reacting to the presence of the SADs. He would be sensitive to the Triad, but out of sync—it's been ten years. Taken by surprise, and ten years unplugged... I really cannot be that surprised that he was brought down."

"And now... he's not dead?"

Julie shook her head. "KUR-1 has reconnected to the Triad. His body here is dead, but his mind is still alive. If we can repair the body, we can redownload his mind and effectively bring him back from death, just as we did when he was a baby. But... his mind is not waiting in a link port. I cannot find him, and it would be far too risky for me to enter the Triad fully at my age."

"But I can," Finn said, understanding dawning. "Because I'm not eighteen. I can go in and find him and bring him to a link port thing. Like a video game."

"Yes, yes exactly!" Julie's bright, happy smile was the same as Kurt's, and Finn found himself returning it. "You can save his life!"

"Oh no," Carole said, shaking her head. "This Triad thing... it sounds dangerous. These... these SAD-bots, they came into our house and _murdered _one of my sons! I'm not sending my other one into their clutches!"

"There's nothing to worry about there," Julie said. "Your boy would be completely safe from that particular danger. SADs do not ever interfere with the human subjects. Even if he was holding KUR-1 in his arms, they would only go after KUR-1."

"That _particular _danger?" Carole asked. "What other dangers are there for him! I won't let him go until I know..."

"Mom-"

"No, Finn. Please, Dr. Hu-Alberta. Explain."

"The danger," Julie said, after a moment, "is not from the bots. It is from Finn's own mind. The Triad will create an artificial world, just for him. It will be perfect, everything he's always wanted. And it will offer him a choice. One pivotal moment on which his perfect life will change. If he accepts the choice, he will be trapped in the Triad, unable to exit on his own. We would need to send another in to retrieve him."

"What happens if he's trapped?" Carole asked. "Does he die?"

"No," Julie said. "His mind continues to live in its blissful paradise. His body will remain alive, but unresponsive."

"Will... will one of those bot-things take over?"

"No," Julie said with a firm shake of her head. "The bots are only allowed to enter authorized personnel. Finn would not be authorized."

"How do I not get tempted?" Finn asked, looking at Julie. "Like... what would I have to do?"

"When the moment of choice comes," Julie said, "you must reject it and head to a door. Any door. Just walk through the door thinking of exits and exiting and leaving, and you will be out of the program and in the mainframe. From there, I will be able to assist you with my own link-up." She gestured to her earpiece.

"That doesn't sound too hard," Finn said.

"It's really not," Julie assured him.

"Mom..." Finn looked over at Carole, squeezing her hands. "Kurt's my _brother_, Mom. Practically. And he'd do the same for me. And so would Burt. They're our family now."

"I know," Carole whispered, reaching up to touch Finn's cheek. "I just... I don't want to lose you too..."

"If I don't do this, we lose Kurt forever," Finn said. "If I do, there's only a really small chance that I'm stupid and say yes when I'm supposed to say no. I _know _I'm supposed to say no now, so I won't say yes. It'll be a piece of cake, Mom. Promise."

"We would have to move fast," Julie said after a moment. "KUR-1 has been rogue for ten years. He's the equivalent of public enemy #1 in the Triad, and every SAD and KUR will be out to kill him. If they kill him in the Triad before we can restore him to his body, he _will _be dead. Permanently."

Carole swallowed and blinked really hard and nodded. "Okay then," she whispered. "Let's do this."

Being near Kurt's physical body, Julie explained, would help Finn be able to hone in on KUR-1 in the mainframe. Finn was a little twitchy about lying down on the bed beside his dead brother, but he did as Julie instructed. He reached out, slipping his fingers around Kurt's cold, stiff hand, and squeezed gently. "I'm gonna bring you home," he whispered.

Burt was standing on the other side of the bed, running his hand over Kurt's hair. He glanced at Finn and gave him a tense smile and a nod. _Thank you_, he mouthed.

Finn just nodded back, turning his head to give his mom a reassuring smile. "It'll be fast, I'm sure," he told her. "I'll be home in time for dinner, probably." He was holding her hand in his other one, and he offered her a squeeze too.

"Maybe not quite _that _fast," Julie said. She had _finally _taken her sunglasses off, and Finn was disturbed to look at her eyes. They were absolutely identical to Kurt's, that pale blue/green/grey. But her face was wrong. It was supposed to be a little fuller, her jaw just a little squarer, her bangs swept to the side... He gulped a little as she pressed an earpiece into his ear before setting a hand on his forehead. Her fingers felt almost as cold as Kurt's. "Ready? I'm going to ask you to blink, very slowly, when I count to three. One, two, three, bli-"

Finn closed his eyes and Julie's voice cut out. The hands in his were gone, and he was standing up in an all-white room instead of lying on a blood-scented bed. There were a ton of people bustling around, like it was some sort of giant train station of the future, and above him was a giant floating virtual head of an attractive blonde woman (he knew it was virtual, because he could sorta see through it).

"WELCOME to the Triad!" the voice chirped, a bright smile on her face. "WELCOME to the Triad! WELCOME to the Triad!" She sounded a bit like Mrs. Schuester, Finn decided after a moment, with a very high and flutey voice, and she put extra stress on the 'welcome' with a little hiccup of joy. "WELCOME to the Triad! WELCOME to the Triad!"

Finn was pretty sure he'd get real sick of her fast.

"Uh... hi," he said, though, stepping closer to the big floaty head. "Excuse me! Hello up there!"

The head swiveled around and looked down at Finn, a big toothy grin on her pretty face. "WELCOME to the Triad! Please state your name and purpose!"

"Er..." Julie had warned Finn not to mention Kurt by name or designation—the bots would be scanning for references to him and could use that to hone in on his location or to track Finn to find him. "Finn Hudson," he answered. "I'm here to find my... uh... brother." Brother couldn't be tracked, right?

"WELCOME to the Triad, Finn Hudson!" The head beamed down at Finn, and he gave her a sheepish smile back. "Enjoy your stay! WELCOME to the Triad! WELCOME to the Triad!"

.

* * *

.

Finn's eyes snapped open again, and he stared up at his ceiling for a long time before rolling over to check his clock. Only 3:14 AM. Behind him, his beautiful blonde fiancee rolled over and pressed up against his back, her fingers tickling down his stomach. _Quinn_? No. He didn't know any Quinns. This was _Rinn_. He was going to marry her, in front of his family and friends, and then after their honeymoon, he'd launch the first international tour of his band. Things were going so well. These dreams... they were just dreams. Really weird dreams.

He really just needed to stop eating pizza before bed.


End file.
